Brakk safety means



J. HORRIGAN.

BRAKE SAFETY MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 7. I918.

Patented May 6,1919...

UNI E STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN HORRIGAN, 0F JOLIET, ILLINOIS.

BRAKE SAFETY -MEANS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

* Patented Ma 6, 1919.

Application filed March 7, 1918. Serial No. 220,901.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN HoRnIeAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at J oliet, in the county of Will and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inBrake Safety Means,

of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to safety mecha-' nism for railway car brake rigging.

One of the objects of the invention is to/ prevent different portions of the brake rlg- ,jects are accomplished by providing in a car truck, the combination of a brake beam, a brake operating rod, and a hanger for sup porting said rod and preventing the brake beam from moving beyond a predetermined point in a given direction.

The invention is illustrated on the accom- I lower ends of whlch are connected by the panying sheet of drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a. railway car truck, embodying my invention; I

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the same; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary of the brake mechanism, showing the application of my safety hanger.

The various novel features of the invention will be apparent from the following description and drawings and will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention has to do primarily with means for preventing the brake beams and the bottom brake operating rod from falling to the tracks when they become disconnected from their normal hangings and also to prevent the brake beam from assuming a position which will cause the top of the brake shoes to run on the wheel.

By referring to-the figures of the drawings, it will be noted that I have disclosed my invention in connection with a railway car truck, including a spring plank 10 to which my improved hangers 11 are connected. Each of these improved hangers 11 may be said to have four difl'erent parts, one part, 12, including a hook portion, which front elevation hooks over the vertically extending flanges of the spring plank 10, whereby the hanger p is hung in position. Another part, 13, which underlies the spring plank, prevents the hanger from being detached from the spring plank by a vertical movement. The downwardly extending portion 14 in each case is provided with an aperture 15, through which passes a brake lever operating rod,

or which is sometimes called atruck bottom rod 16. The fourth part, 17, of the hanger includes a forward horizontally extending portion which extends over the compression member 18 of the brake beam, which also includes a tension member 19.

The brake beams here shown are of the truss type, in which a central strut-1'20 connects the compression and tension members,

the brake beams normally being retained in a swinging relationship with respect to the wheels by hangers 21, which may be secured to any suitable part 22 of the truck. Pivotally connected to the strut 20 are brake levers 28, the upper ends of each of which may be connected to a suitable support, if a dead lever, or operating rod, and the truck bottom rod or lever operating rod 16. Mounted upon the ends of the brake beams are brake heads 24:, carrying shoes 25, which are arranged to cooperate with the wheels 26 for braking purposes.

Referring again to the safety hangers 11. it is apparent that the operating rod 16 will be prevented from falling to the ground in the event that it becomes detached from its normal connections, the apertured part 14:

'the fact that the compression members 18 are prevented from moving upward by the forwardly extending portions 17 of the safety hangers thereby preventing uneven wear of the shoes.

The hangers may be made of plate metal with the parts 13 struck up for forming the aperture 15, the overhanging hook portions 12 and the forwardly extending portion 17, being formed by stamping the upper part of the hanger into three fingers, which are bent into the position shown.

By means of this arrangement, the brake rigging not only is maintained in a balanced condition to prevent uneven wear of the brake shoes, but also there is provided safety means to prevent parts from falling to the tracks, which might result in serious accident. By means of this arrangement also the use of safety chains which heretofore have been attached to the brake beam to prevent same from dropping to the tracks, in the event of a brake hanger being disconnccted, is obviated.

It is my intention to cover all modifications of the invention falling within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a car truck, the combination of a brake beam, an operating rod operatively connected to said brake beam, and a hanger carried by the truck for preventing the operating rod from falling to the track and for preventing the brake beam from moving into a position wherein the brake shoe normally engages the associated wheel.

'2. In a car truck, the combination of a spring plank, a brake beam, an operating rod operatively connected to said brake beam, and a hanger carried by said spring plank for preventing the operating rod from falling to the track and for preventing the beam from moving into a position wherein the brake shoe normally engages the associated wheel.

3. In a car truck, the combination of a spring plank, a hanger carried thereby, a brake beam, and an operating rod operatively connected to said brake beam, said hanger having one portion for preventing the operating rod from falling to the tracks and having another portion for preventing the upward movement of the brake beam for holding the brake beam out of engagement with the associated wheel.

4. In a car truck, the combination of a spring plank, a hanger carried thereby, a brake beam, and an operating rod operatively connected to said brake beam, one portion of said hanger preventing a falling movement of said operating rod and another portion of the hanger preventing the brake shoes normally engaging the associated wheels, and other portions of the hanger engaging the spring plank for preventing accidental withdrawal of the hanger.

Signed at Joliet, in the county of WVill, State of Ill, this 27 day of Feb, A. D. 1918.

JOHN HORRIGAN. 

